The Contribution of Environmental Scanning to Organizational Performance
 
Xue Zhang, Shaheen Majid and Schubert Foo.
 
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Nanyang Technological University
 
 
Abstract
 
Environmental scanning, the radar to detect environmental signals, is serving as an effective way for organizations to cope with uncertainties and formulate
adaptive strategies. Strategists and strategic management scholars also believe that  effective  environmental  scanning  would  help  organizations  to  achieve
better  alignment  with  rapidly  changing  external  factors  and  hence  improve their performance. It is, therefore, desirable to explore the relationship among
environmental  uncertainty,  environmental  scanning,  and  organizational performance.  This  paper  starts  with  the  definition  and  process  of
environmental  scanning,  followed  by  the  introduction  of  environmental uncertainty  as  well  as  the  indirect  impact  of  environmental  scanning  on
organization  performance.  Prior  empirical  studies  trying  to  discover  or demonstrate the potential relationships are also reviewed. Finally, the refined
theoretical model as well as the proposed research methodology is presented.
 
Keywords:  Environmental  Uncertainty,  Environmental  Scanning  and Organizational Performance